1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel storage device and, more particularly, to such a novel fuel cell which is seamless, lightweight, and deformable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the ever increasing popularity of air, boat, and vehicle racing there has been a need for safer fuel storage devices which have increased resistance to puncturing and leakage.
Various fuel cells have been developed in the past to increase the safety of storing fuel. To reduce the likelihood of explosion a non-rigid fuel bladder has been used within racing vehicles. However, due to the extreme forces exerted on a race vehicle these non-rigid bladders cannot be used due to the sloshing of the fuel within the bladder which causes a shifting in the balance of the racing vehicle. Fuel cells have been developed which are generally box-like in shape and fit within the frame of a racing vehicle and are constructed of various forms of epoxy resin. These fuel cells are puncture resistant but have a tendency to break or crack within a collision thereby spilling their fuel contents. Further, these epoxied fuel cells are relatively heavy which deteriorates the competitive performance of the racing vehicle. In manufacturing these prior art fuel cells various manufacturing methods require a second opening to be made within the structure of the fuel cell and later covered over and sealed. This form of prior art fuel cell when exposed to such forces as in a collision will most generally crack or fail at the point of this sealed second opening.
Further, prior art fuel cells have used nylon cloth within the structure of the fuel cell. This nylon cloth has been mainly used as a basis for which the epoxy to be applied to and adds further puncture resistance to the fuel cell. The nylon cloth is cut and tailored to fit in exact dimension of a fuel cell and then is sown together. As can be seen this is a time consuming process. In certain applications the addition of the nylon cloth is not needed within a fuel cell but these prior art fuel cells require the nylon cloth.
There has been a need for a truly seamless, puncture resistant, non-rigid fuel cell which is lightweight, easy to manufacture and can be used with or without nylon cloth.